Trap nest



Feb. 3. 1925 1,525,381

H. P. FALLS TRAP masi'l Filed Nov. 29, 1922' 2 Shoah-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 3, 1925.

U N141 TED e SA; GTF-FlLCE..l

TRAP NEST.'

Application filed NovemherZQ, 1922. Serial No. 604,012.

To ,all whom t may concern? Beit .known y,that I, HERBERT P. 'FALLs, acitizen of the Dominion of Canada, ,resid-1 ing at Vancouver, in theProvince of British Columbia, Canada, have invented .certain new and-useful lniproveinentsin Trap Nests,

of which vthe followingl is a specilication.

This invention relates to a trap' nest for domesticfowl and 1s designedtoafford a laying henthe desiredfrelief fr`o1n .interfer.-

ence z by .other hens, .while laying..

The invention is particularly described in the following specification,Yreference Abeing inade1tovthe drawings by whichit is accom:-

panied, in which Fig. -1 isa longitudinal section of thenest throughkthe entrance and exit doors, and

Fig. 2 isZ a sectionalplan of the, saine.,

Fig. 3 isan enlarged detail ofthe support whichmaintains,.theentranceIdoor inthe,

open position.

Fig. 4 illustrates a supplementary feature designed toA maintain closureof the Yexit aperture nntiltlie `occupant of the nest, box has laid anegg.

In thesev drawings Zrepresents the boxer coop in which the nest 3. islocated.. This nest boX islprovided with an entrance 4 closj able -with,a doort vertically slidablein guideways, and on` the opposite side ofthe nest 3 is the exit opening closable Witlra door v7 verticallyslidable in guideways. These doors 5 and 7 are, connected together by aflexible line 8vpassing over sheaves or r' pnlle'ys 9 Iin the upper partof thet nest borg,

the connectionbeing suchithat Aone door. is open while 'the other .isshut, but .the weight of the door preponderates andftends to close thedoorway 4.` i

The door 5 is normally retained inthe open position by` a strut 11pinfconnectedat l1210 the inner end of a tread board 13, eX- tendingthronghthe lopening 44 andtiltable about a fulcruin..14. The zupper.Aend of Athe strut` 11 is notched to ,resten the` underside of anaperture througlrwhich itprojects in the-pathlof the door. 5 to.` holdYit open.

This retaining endof Y1'1gis .withdrawn when a bird passes. through.thelentran' and reaches the inner end ofjt'heftread board 13, whenthe weightofT theboaiidtilts :that end of theboard andperniits the 'door 5 tofall, under its preponderating weight, and closetheopening.Simultaneously 'the door 7 of the. exit opening is raised astlie door` 5falls. A

Then the hen `has laid its` egg in the nest 3, it passes out throughtheopen exit 6, the

door ofL which was opened ,when theentrance door felL- v Outside theexitzopening 6 is a `platform 15 with a ASide board ,16.- on each`sideproject-- ingbeyond it, and sparsl( across. between thesiderboalfland beyond tlieplatforin ,15.vv Within the protectionoftheside boards 16 is a tread board 18extliding across,betweenl theouterends of levers19, which ,arepivot-- ally connect-ed at 2Oltovtheunderside of the.

nest boi;` and provided :ontheotherfend with a .counterweightQl thatwillnormally maintain thetread vboard 18 at the approximateleveloftheplatforin.15, :but that/will be depressedbythe weight ofthehen on its outer end whenpassingout. The sideboards 16 andtop spars `17prevent the bird from flyingtoeither sideE or, upward and require it topass,overthetreadboard 18.

The' outer endof this tread board 18 is connectedby a -flexible line 22at 28 to the line 8 by which ther doors, 5 vand, 7 are connected, sothat the weight ofthe bird as it passes out, overcomes thepreponderating weightof the. entrance doorgv and raises that doortothehopenposition where it latches and simultaneously lowers the exitdoor 7, so that the nest is in readiness for another bird. I I

'llheadvantages ofthe lnest will be apparent to a poultry fancier, orbreeder. The nests, Whenunoccnpied, standopen for any bird wishing tolay, but as soon as occupied the entrance ,door .closes and preventsinterference, froinfthat, side while the, exit` door isopenedfor thebird to passout to the other side` after laying. If the. nest is placedbetween tWo otherwise separated enclosures, the birds thathave laidtheireggs, are separated from/,those *that have not.

In the operationfof ,the nestas sok far described, a hen inay enter thenest and,-with out, laying,1nay pass throughfthenest boi; and findf itswayiainongthe yhensfwhich f are 4 supposed toliave laidaiid`- asv itisdesirable thattliefancier lmowjwhat hens havev laid and vwhatli'avefiotlie supplementary.'device illustratedin Fig. 4 is provided toprevent a henfpassingjgV out unless she has laid an egg in thfenest."V

This device comprises a supplementary door which is releasably connectedto the lower edge of the exit door 7, the connection being made by meansof a hook latch 26 pivoted at 27 to the lower edge of the door 7 and isproduced upward beyond the pivot. In the centre of t-he nest 3 is apocket or depression 2S toward which the bottom 0f the nest is sloped asat 29. The bottom of this pocket 28 is closed by a drop door 80 pivotedat 3l, and on the opposite side of the pivot is connected at 32 to aflexible line 33, which passes around a sheave 34 and is connected at 35to a bell crank lever 36 pivoted at 37 to one of the spars 17 above theexit aperture 6. The other end of this bell crank lever 36 isapproximate the upper end of the hook latch 26 when the door 7 israised.

Vith this arangement, although a hen, on entering they nest box, mayeffect closure of the entrance door 5 and will raise the exit door '7,the supplementary door 25 is drawn up with the door 7 and maintainsclosure of the exit aperture 6. The hen, unless she lays an egg, is,therefore, retained in the nest box until the owner effects its release;but if the hen is a laying hen and deposits an egg in the nest the eggwill roll into the pocket 28 and its weight, falling on the drop door30, will move that end ofthe door downward and the other end upward, andwill, therefore, pull down the end 35 of the bell crank lever 36 topro-ject the other end of that lever into engagement with the upwardlyprojecting end of the latch 26 and withdraw the latch and permit thesupplementary door 25 to fall open and permit the hen to pass throughthe exit aperture 6.

As before, when the weight of the outpassing hen acts on the tread board1S, the exit door 7 is drawn down and automatically latches itself againto the supplementary door 25.

The eggs, which pass through the drop door 30, will be delivered into adrawer 3S beneath, the bottom of which is sloped away from the pocket.

A distinct advantage lies in the connection of the doors together by theline 8 over the sheaves 9, whereby they are checked in their downwardand upward movement, and do not alarm the hen 'about to lay.

Having now particularly described my ini'ention, I hereby declare thatwhat I claim as new and desire to be protected in by Letters Patent, is:

l. A trap nest, comprising the combination with a nest box having anentrance and an exit aperture, means including slidable doors forclosing the apertures, said means norm ally tending tov close theentrance aperture, means for retaining the entrance aperture open, meansin the ent-rance aperture and operative by the passage of a fowl throughit for releasing the retaining means and permitting the closure of thataperture, and means operative by passage of a fowl through theexitaperture for closing that aperture and thereby opening the entranceaperture.

2. A trap nest, comprising the comb-ination with a nest box having anentrance and an exit aperture, a slidable door closing each aperture,the door of the entrance aperture being heavier than that of the closingaperture, means for connecting the entrance and exit doors together thatone is always in its open position when the other is in its closedposition, means for retaining the entrance door open, means operative bythe entrance of a fowl for withdrawing the retaining means andpermitting the entrance doo-r to close, whereby the exit door is.simultaneously opened, and means operative by the passage of the birdthrough the exit door for closing the exit door and opening the entrancedoor.

3. A trap nest, com-prising the combination. with a nest box having anentrance and an exit aperture, means including slidable doors forclosing the apertures, saidvmeans normally tending to close the entranceaperture, means for retaining the entrance aperture open, meansoperative by the entrance of a fowl for withdrawing the support andallowing the entrance door to closeand open the exit door, and meansoperative by the passage of the bird through the exit door for closingthe exit door and opening the entrance door.

4. A trap nest comprising the combination with a nest box having anentrance aperture and an exit aperture, means for closing saidapertures, said means normally tending to close the entrance aperture,means Vfor normally maintaining said closing means in position to opensaid entrance aperture and close said exit aperture, means operative bypassage of the fowl through the entrance for releasing said maintainingmeans to permit the entrance aperture to be closed, means operativebydeposit of an egg in the nest for effectingu an opening of the exitaperture, and means beyond the exit aperture operative by departure ofthe fowl from the nest box for effecting a closing of the exit apertureand a simultaneous opening of the entrance aperture.

A trap nest, comprising the combination with a nest box having anentrance and an exit aperture, means including slidable doors forclosing the apertures, said means normally closing the entranceaperture, means for retaining the entrance aperture open against theclosing tendency, means in the entrance aperture and opera-tive by thepassage of a fowl through it for releasing the retaining means andpermitting the entrance door to close, means operative by deposit of anegg in the nest for opening the door of the exit aperture, and meansoperative by departure of the fowl from the exit for closing the door ofthat aperture and opening the entrance door.

6. A trap nest, comprising the combination with a nest box having anentrance and an exit aperture, a slidable door closing each aperture,means for Connect-ing the doors together that one door is open when theother is Closed7 the entrance door normally being Closed, asupplementary door releasably connected to the lower edge of the exitdoor, means holding the entrance door open,

means operative by passage of a fowl into the nest 'box for withdrawingsaid holding means and permitting the entrance door to Close and toraise the exit door and bring the supplementary exit door opposite theexit aperture, an aperture in the bottom of the nest box, a drop doorclosing the aperture, and means Coopera-tive with movement of the dropdoor for releasing` the supplementary exit closing door and permittingit to fall and open the exit.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

HERBERT P. FALLS.

